Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Hughes passed away on Wednesday at his residence on the farm in Kentucky surrounded by his family. He was 87 years old.
He was renowned as a visionary entrepreneur who grew from humble beginnings to build a self-storage empire, through Public Storage, before turning his attention to thoroughbreds. Hughes purchased Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky in 2004 and transformed it into a leading commercial breeding operation with son-in-law Eric Gustavson as president and General Manager Ned Toffey.
The farm gradually returned to prominence, then soared in the past decade with the breakout of superstar sire Into Mischief (USA). Spendthrift campaigned multiple champions including Beholder (USA) (Henny Hughes {USA}) and Authentic (USA).
In 2020, Hughes celebrated Authentic's G1 Kentucky Derby and G1 Breeders' Cup Classic, before the son of Into Mischief retired to stand at Spendthrift. He threw his support behind MyRacehorse, allowing thousands of micro-owners to share in Authentic's success.
In 2014, Hughes took his thoroughbred stallion operation international, purchasing the former Yallambee Park Stud in Victoria to establish Spendthrift Australia under the guidance of General Manager Garry Cuddy.
Garry Cuddy
Speaking to TDN AusNZ, Cuddy said he was forever grateful for the opportunity afforded to him by Hughes, when he was appointed to that role.
"From a personal perspective, he took a very big punt on me and backed me as a young man. He gave me a wonderful opportunity," Cuddy said.
"I hope that the development of the farm and brand in Australia over the first seven years was something he was proud of.
"I hope that the development of the farm and brand in Australia over the first seven years was something he was proud of." - Garry Cuddy
"The team here are very flat today hearing the news, as Mr Hughes was a man we all looked up to and greatly admired. The culture and values of Spendthrift were optimised by Mr Hughes, who very much led by example from the top.
"There's a fire in the belly for us to fulfil the dream for Mr Hughes and get the results that he desired. We want to continue and honour his legacy, along with his family."
The late B. Wayne Hughes
Cuddy met Hughes in 2014, after he was flown to Kentucky for a job interview for the new Australian operation. He said he was immediately struck by a man of passion and conviction.
"I got a phone call and they said, 'we’d like to interview you for a job'. Two days later I was in Kentucky, meeting Mr Hughes and Ned Toffey, and we drove around the farm," he said.
"Anyone who has met Mr Hughes will know his infectious attitude and character. He's a person that grabbed your attention as soon as he spoke. You could really feel that what he said, he meant."
"Anyone who has met Mr Hughes will know his infectious attitude and character. He's a person that really grabbed you as soon as he spoke." - Garry Cuddy
That approach was something that struck Cuddy as a key tenet to the culture that had elevated Spendthrift into one of the American thoroughbred industry's great success stories of the 21st century.
"One thing that is particularly wonderful for Spendthrift, is the powerful brand he has created in both hemispheres. You know we fight the good fight for everybody, big or small, be they the richest client or breeders with only one mare. All over the world, you are treated the same way. That's the way he wanted it and that's the way it will continue on into the future," he said.
An Australian ambition
Hughes' affinity for Australia came through his previous business dealings in the country and Cuddy said from that perspective, it made sense for him to expand his thoroughbred interests in Australia.
"He loved the country and the racing excited him. At the end of the day, he was a businessman, and he knew that fast American shuttle stallions could work," Cuddy said.
"He had around 30 stallions on the roster in Kentucky at the time that he purchased the Australian arm. There have been opportunities for some of those horses to make their way down here. We've learned a lot in those first few years and now stand Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso down here, two incredibly exciting prospects in both hemispheres who fit the profile of American stallions that work. It's exciting to think of the stallions we will have the opportunity to stand into the future."
As well as investing in stallions and broodmares, Spendthrift has also been a major supporter of the Australian yearling market, spending over $30 million either in its own name or in partnership since 2016. Among those purchases have been Swear, Dirty Work and Overshare, who are now on Spendthrift Australia's roster.
There have also been considerable resources put into the Australian base at Romsey, north of Melbourne.
"We are still only a young farm and still in the redevelopment stage really. We have been here for seven years. We started out with the approach that 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and we weren't going to rush things," Cuddy said.
"Now we are at the point where the farm is almost exactly where we want it. We have got our broodmare band up to the capacity our farm can hold. We've got a very exciting stallion roster, so with a bit of luck, there's plenty of excitement in the future for us.
"It will all be done the Mr Hughes' way, with the breeder considered first, that’s for sure."
Spendthrift Australia
An American story
Born Bradley Wayne Hughes on September 28, 1933, in the small town of Gotebo, Oklahoma, he was known by his middle name since childhood. The son of a sharecropper who fled Oklahoma's Dust Bowl and resettled in California shortly after he was born, Hughes grew up poor in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. Winning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, he graduated with a degree in business in 1957.
Climbing the professional ladder in real estate, Hughes had recently opened his own firm when business associate Kenneth Volk Jnr brought him an idea in 1972 for buying and renting out private self-storage locations in major cities.
Hughes and Volk pooled US$50,000 (AU$69,507) together and founded Public Storage, which became an immense success and established Hughes' business empire. The company has grown to a US$40 billion (AU$55.6 billion) valuation and was the foundation for Hughes to expand into other successful real estate ventures.
Introduced to horse racing by his father as a young boy, Hughes was involved in the sport for decades as an adult before making his big splash with the purchase of Spendthrift in 2004. The historic farm, which once stood Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew (USA) and Affirmed (USA), fell into bankruptcy when the thoroughbred market crashed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1993.
"Introduced to horse racing by his father as a young boy, Hughes was involved in the sport for decades as an adult before making his big splash with the purchase of Spendthrift in 2004."
He purchased Spendthrift in 2004 and traded in his residence in California for a life on the farm in Lexington. Hughes quickly began restoring the historic brand and its land, renovating almost all the farm's signature structures and returning Spendthrift to a viable commercial breeding operation.
A gradual build back to success for Spendthrift gathered considerable pace thanks to Into Mischief, while the on-track success of Beholder and Authentic added another chapter to Hughes' story.
Monomoy Girl (USA) | Image courtesy of Fasig-Tipton
Spendthrift dominated last year's Fasig-Tipton November Night of the Stars, buying dual Champion Monomoy Girl (USA) (Tapizar {USA}) for US$9.5 million (AU$13.2 million) as one of several multi-million dollar purchases to pair with Into Mischief and the rest of the farm's ever-growing stallion roster.
Following Beholder's 8.5l victory in the 2015 G1 Pacific Classic, Hughes said: “I've had a few good horses in the past, but she is the first horse that makes me feel lucky to be the owner. I've never had that feeling before. I think it's called pride.”
Said Hughes after being honoured as the 2020 Galbreath Award winner by the University of Louisville: “Thoroughbred horse racing has been a tremendous passion of mine ever since my father took me to the races as a young boy. It's something he and I got to share together, and I've been fortunate to be able to make it a large part of my life and share it with so many that are dear to me.
"There are few thrills greater than what horse racing can provide, and it is our responsibility to do a better job of improving this great sport so that future generations can enjoy it as much as I have.”
Mandella pays tribute
Richard Mandella, who trained Beholder and her half-brother Into Mischief, reflected on the impact Hughes had made.
“It's a very, very sad day for me personally, and for racing in general,” he said. “He was such a stand-up guy, trying to make the world better, and a lot of fun.”
Mandella, who said he had known Hughes for 25 years, described him as a bastion of old-school horsemanship.
“He was like those old owners who used to come to the track and see the horses train and have breakfast and talk about them–the old-school type.”
Asked what memory of Hughes stands out above all others, Mandella sidestepped a carnival of indelible moments with the likes of Beholder. “She had so many days you could pick–the last race she ran in at the Breeders' Cup. The Pacific Classic just took your breath away,” he said.
“But if I had one day to pick, it's when I asked him for a favour for my son,” Mandella said, reluctant to elaborate in detail. “My son had some health problems, and Mr Hughes did something that nobody else could do.”
“But if I had one day to pick, it's when I asked him for a favour for my son. My son had some health problems, and Mr Hughes did something that nobody else could do.” - Richard Mandella
Hughes devoted a considerable portion of his wealth to philanthropy, almost always anonymously and without fanfare.
He gave a staggering US$400 million (AU$556 million) to his beloved University of Southern California and committed over US$100 million (AU$139 million) more to paediatric cancer research after his 8-year-old son Parker died of leukemia in 1998. During the wildfires that killed and displaced horses in California in 2017, Hughes gave US$50,000 (AU$69,500) to relief efforts and flew in veterinary supplies and volunteers from Kentucky on a private plane. He also donated toward the rehabilitation of wildlife after the devastating Australian bush fires in 2019.
In addition to his philanthropy, Hughes will be remembered as one of the great, consistently innovative business minds of the last 50 years and a true rags-to-riches story who found his way to success in nearly everything he tried. His investment in and expert management of Spendthrift has risen the farm from the ashes and restored its legacy while disrupting the industry by continually implementing new ideas on both the breeding and racing sides.
Hughes was preceded in death by his father William Lawrence, his mother Blanche, and his son Parker. He is survived by his wife Patricia, his son Wayne Jnr (Molly); his daughter Tamara, wife of Spendthrift's Eric Gustavson; his grandchildren Kylie Barraza (Pat), Skylar Hughes, Grant and Greer Gustavson; his sister Sue Caldwell and family, Frank, Bill, Allen; and a host of beloved cousins and friends.
